The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1887-08-12
INSURE YOUR LIVES.
DISCOURSE BY THE REV. T. De
WITT TAlMAGE.

prOvlUO IOr tte OWu' H1"useuotO u
Worse Than an InAdsl.
THE HAMProNs, Aug. THE Rev. T.
De Witt Talmage's sermon for today was
on the important subject of "Life and
Fire Insurance: the Christian Principles
Involved" His text was: "Let him up.
point officers over the land, and take uI
the fifth part Of the land of Egypt in the
seven plenteous years. Genesis xii, 81.
These were the words of Joseph, the
president of the first life insurance COM
pany that the world ever saw. Pharaoh
had dream that distracted him. He
thought he stood on the banks Of the
river Nile, and saw coming out Of the
river seven fat, sleek, glossy cows, and
they began to browse in tho thick grass.
Nothing frghtful about that. But after
them. coming out of the same river, he
saw seven cows that were gaunt and
starved, and the worst looking cows that
had ever been seen in the land, and in
the ferocity of hunger they devoured
their seven fat predecessors. Pharaoh,
the king, sent for Joseph to decipher
these midnight hieroglyphics. Joseph
made short work of it, and intimated the
seven fat cows that came out of the river
are seven years with plenty to eat, the
seven emaciated cows that followed
them are seven years with moth
ing to eat. "Now," said Joseph,
"let us take one-fifth Of the corn crop
of the seven prosperous years and keep it
as a provision for the seven years in
which there shall be no corn CROP" The
king took the counsel and appointed
Joseph, because of his integrity and
public spiritedness, as the president of
the undertaking. The farmers paid one
fifth of their income as premium. In
all the towns and cities of the land there
were branch houses. This great Egyp-
tian life insurance company had millions
of dollars as assets. After while the
dark days came and the whole nation
would have starved if it had not been for
the provision they had made for the
future. But now these suffering families
had nothing to do but 60 up and collect
the amount of their life policies. The
Bible puts it in one short phrase: sin all
the land of Egypt there was bread" I
say this was the first life insurance COM
pany. 1t was divinely organized. It
had in it all the advantages Of the "whole
life plan," of the "tontine plan," of the
the reserved endowment plan" and all
the other good plans. We are told that
Rev. DR.. Animate, of Lincolnshire, Eng
land, originated the first life insurance
company in 1893. No! it is as old as the
corn cribs of Egypt; and God himself
was the author and originator. If that
were not so would not take your time
and mine in Sabbath discussion Of this
subject. l feel it is theme vital, reli-
gious and of infinite import, the morals
of life and fire insurance.
About ten or twelve years ago there
was great panic in life insurance which
did good. Under the storm the untrust-
worthy and bogus institutions were scat
tered, while the genuine were tested and
firmly established, and where does the
life insurance institution stand today?
What amount of comfort, of education,
of moral and spiritual advantage is repre-
sented in the simple statistic that in this
country the life insurance companies in
one year paid $1,000, 900 to the families
of the bereft, and in five years they paid
$500, 200, 900 to the families of the be-
reft, and are promising to pay-and hold
themselves in readiness to pay-$2, 000,-
600, 900 to the families of the bereft!
They have actually paid out more in
dividends and death claims than they
have ever received in premiums. l know
of what 1 speak. The life insurance
companies of this country paid more than
1000, 900 of taxes to the government in
five years. So, instead of these COM
panies being indebted to the land, the
land is indebted to them. To cry out
against life insurance because here and
there one company has behaved badly is
as absurd as it would be for man to
burn down 1000 acres of harvest field
in order to kill the moles and potato bugs
AS preposterous as a man who should |
blow up {. crowded steamer in mid-Atlan-
tic for the purpose of destroying the
barnacles on the bottom of the hulk.
But what does the Bible say in regard
to this subject? If the Bible favors the
institution, will favor it; if the Bible
denounces it, will denounce it. In ad-
dition to the forecast of Joseph in the |
text, call to your attention PauPs COM
parison. Here is one man who, through |
neglect, fails to support his family while
he lives, CT after he dies. Here is another
man, who abhors the Scriptures, and re-
jects God. Which of these men is the
worse? Well. you say, the latter. Paul
says the former. Paul says that q man
who neglects to care for his household is
more obnoxious than man who rejects
the Scriptures: "He that provideth not
for his own, and especially those of his
own household, is worse than an infidel."
Life insurance companies help most of us
to provide for our families after we are
gone; but, if we have the money to pay
the premiums and do not pay them, we
have no right to expect mercy at the hand
of God in the judgment. We are worse
than Tom Paine, worse than Voltaire, and
worse than Shaftesbury. The Bible de-
clares tive are worse than an infidel.
After the certificate of death has been
made out, and thirty or sixty days have
passed, and the officer of life insurance
company comes into the bereft house.
hold, and pays down the hard cash on an
insurance policy, that officer of the COM
pany is performing positively religious